In any case, stocks are meandering lower again, failing to show signs of a bounce after Tuesday’s drift south. While Senate bickering continues to pose a headwind, there’s not much in the way of notable earnings to go along with a smattering of economic data. Perhaps some special dividend announcements, like the most recent from Costco, will lure buyers, though big bounces don’t always follow.

The economy: The MBA weekly mortgage applications survey hits at 7 a.m. October new home sales follow three hours later with analysts looking for a dip of 0.5% after a jump of 5.7% in September. Later, we’ll get the EIA weekly petroleum report and word on the Federal Reserve Beige Book.

Tax-avoiding payouts: Special dividends are popping up all over the place these days. The latest from Costco
/quotes/zigman/67728/quotes/nls/costCOST, whose shares are up premarket after the company said it plans to pay out $7 a share, or about $3 billion. This is a burgeoning trend to keep an eye on ahead of a potential fiscal-cliff dividend tax hike.

While we’re on Twitter, here’s a timely tweet pairing two hot topics, courtesy of Yahoo Finance blogger Jeff Macke: “After I win $700m tonight I’ll issue a special dividend of $1 to each follower, $10 if you can prove you’re a church or non-profit.”

The chart of the day: The technical guys are having a field day with GMCR already, and the sun is hardly even up yet. Take a look at this bullish take from Captain John, with the added caption of “Green Mountain is the place for me!” There seems to be a cyber-consensus that the rally will be more than a temporary blip.

Microbreweries just aren’t as hip as they used to be, what with the growing popularity of craft beers over the conventional brands. So let’s take it to another level. More esoteric. Look to the nanobrewery and brews like “Pinball Wizard.”

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Need to Know (NTK) guides investors to the most important, insightful items required to chart a course ahead of each trading day. Anchored by lead writer Shawn Langlois, NTK will sift through the fire hose of news, commentary and data, from traditional and non-traditional sources, and extract what’s most essential. You can start reading NTK here as it begins publishing at approximately 6:30 a.m. ET, or sign up here to get a version in your email box every morning at approximately 8:45. a.m. ET.